Thank you!

We hope this note finds you well and filled with joyous memories of our wedding day. We wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for your presence and for making our wedding truly unforgettable. Having all of you there to share in our special day meant the world to us. The venue itself, with its sweeping views and windows into the underwater world, provided a magical backdrop for our celebration, but it would not have been complete without you. Your presence added the layer of warmth, love, and happiness that we will forever cherish. We were overjoyed to see your smiling faces as we read our vows, and felt the love and support that surrounded us. As we embark on this journey of married life, we will carry with us the beautiful memories of our wedding day, and you will forever be a part of that cherished tapestry. Please be sure to upload any photos or videos you'd like to share from the weekend to our shared Google Drive (let us know if you don't have the link), or email them to us at margandjosh@gmail.com. Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being there to celebrate with us. We are grateful beyond words. Please know that you are always welcome in our lives, and we look forward to creating many more joyous moments together. With much love and appreciation, Joshua and Margaret

During the pandemic, I moved from a crowded house of roommates in Palo Alto to a small apartment in Santa Cruz. I was social distancing, making space to work remotely, and improving my surfing. While I loved my life by the beach, I confided to friends that I was looking to meet someone. In January 2021, I met Margaret on the dating app Hinge, but at the very end of our first phone call, she mentioned that she was traveling solo for a month or so, which I only assumed was a very kind “not interested”. Marg’s life could not have been more different. Although the pandemic had disrupted her research in the Baja peninsula of Mexico, she had pivoted to several other research projects and traveled around the US. During the year before we met, she explored the National Parks and Forests of California, skied across the American Southwest, and took a solo camping trip where she decided she was done with dating and content by herself. However, just before this solo trip, Margaret had matched with me on Hinge, and she decided that she would allow this one last connection to run its course. To my surprise, we stayed in touch throughout Margaret’s trip. When she had cell service, photos of her adventures would fill my phone. Texts turned to phone calls, phone calls turned to video calls, and once she was back in California, we decided to meet. With an hour separating our homes in Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, restaurants closed in both locales, and busy work schedules, this was difficult. In the end, we decided on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe for a weekend. Both of us were somewhat skeptical, as were our closest friends and family (some of Margaret’s even sent spies up to the mountains to ensure she wouldn’t end up the subject of a true crime podcast). I fell for her the first day we went skiing. Because I am more of an acquired taste, Marg understandably needed a few more days, but she was convinced after we spent the next week in Santa Cruz together. Since that first week, we’ve grown closer than either of us thought possible. I learned to scuba dive and went cave diving with her in Mexico. Margaret moved into my Santa Cruz apartment and embraced surfing as a new hobby. We share outdoor adventures, musical experiences with our favorite bands, and talk incessantly about our passions and dreams for the future. Now, as we formally weave the fabric of our lives together, we are excited for you to join us. Whether you are family, friends, schoolmates, surf buddies or fellow nature enthusiasts, you are invited to our wedding because you represent some crucial piece of our lives up until now. If you are not able to attend, please let us know as we have a small venue, and we will have to catch up down the road. Otherwise, we look forward to celebrating with you on June 24th, 2023. Love, Joshua and Margaret